On the way out the front door of the hotel, we paused to check out the spot where Ronald Reagan was shot. There was no plaque to memorialize the event, which makes sense when you think about it. If someone famous almost got killed at your place of business, it's not something you'd want to advertise to the world.
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| Standing near where Reagan was shot |
We took the bus to Pennsylvania Avenue, and found ourselves across the street from the Hoover Building, the headquarters of the FBI. We approached the National Archives, our first destination of the day, and that's when we hit our first hiccup. It was 9:00 in the morning, and the archives don't open until 10:00.
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| In front of the FBI headquarters |
In this age of smart phones, this was not an insurmountable obstacle. We looked up the other museums on our to-do list, chose one that was open, and moved on.
Ford's Theater
When we approached Ford's Theater, I groaned at the long line queuing outside the building. I left Ray to hold a place in line, while I checked out the box office. It turns out that the museum issues free tickets at specific times in order to control the flow of traffic. Since Ray and I were a small group, we were able to get the last of the 9:00 tickets. Everyone else in line was waiting for 9:30.
The museum, while small, was excellently designed. It focused on Lincoln's presidency, from the plot to assassinate him on his arrival in DC, to his actual assassination four years later. The flow of traffic and the amount of information provided were all excellent. My only complaint with the museum was the large crowds that it attracted.
My favorite bit of the museum was a television screen from which former presidents each recited portions of Lincoln's Gettysburg address. I don't think there are any words in our shared American creed more stirring and inspirational than those delivered by Lincoln on November 19, 1863.
Ford's Theater is an operational theater, and as such, the theater itself periodically closes for rehearsals and performances. The theater was open for a couple of hours that morning, but its imminent closure hurried us through the last few displays of the museum.
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| A short jump from the Presidential Box to the stage |
We then climbed the stairs to the mezzanine and sat opposite the theater box where Lincoln was shot. I took some photos, listened to the docent's lecture, and then we moved on to our next destination.
National Archives
Our next stop was the National Archives, home to the Charters of Freedom. It's also home to some other exhibits and displays, but Ray and I did not stay to explore.
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| National Archives Building |
Viewing the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights was yet another sacred experience. The room was kept dark, and despite the crowds, it was relatively quiet. We were ushered through a number of displays about the history of these documents before we saw the documents themselves.
The Declaration of Independence sits in the darkened rotunda, faded and almost illegible. The constitution sits next to it, page after page describing a grand and on-going experiment in self-government. Its text is less faded, which is odd, seeing as how both documents are of a similar age. Finally, we passed the Bill of Rights. I am still amazed at how much freedom is packed into that first little amendment, how much we depend on its sparse wording to maintain our essential liberties.
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| In reality, the rotunda is darker and more crowded (photo from Wikipedia) |
We left the Archives deeply stirred and grateful for the words enshrined there.
National Portrait Gallery
The National Portrait Gallery was supposed to be a quick stop, a way to spend half an hour before heading on to lunch in Chinatown. Unfortunately, I greatly underestimated the power that it would hold over me.
Part of the appeal of this gallery is that each portrait is accompanied by a small plaque with a two- or three-paragraph description of who these people were. We spent the most time examining portraits of and learning about the lives of leading Americans of the 1700s. It was a poignant reminder that the demigods of the American pantheon were not alone in their passion for independence. Many men and women also served their community and served a cause greater then self. Their names may not be as well-known as those of Washington, Jefferson, or Madison, but they were "no less serviceable" in the cause of liberty.
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| With a couple of 19th Century prophets |
We lingered in the portrait gallery, slowly moving from one room to another. Noon rolled around and rather than break for lunch, we kept moving through the gallery. On the second floor we encountered a gallery of presidential portraits. Some of these were tasteful and well-done. Others, especially those of JFK and Clinton, were awful. I hope future presidents take note and avoid the mistakes of their predecessors, in this regard at least.
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| LBJ shows us how to do a classy portrait |
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| GHWB shows us another take on the classy portrait |
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| What was he smoking? |
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| How not to do a presidential portrait |
We did a quick run-through of the third floor, which included the portraits of 20th century Americans. However, the hour was late and our bellies were empty so we headed over to Chinatown. I still had unfinished business at the museum, so I vowed to return later that week when I had a free moment.
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| Another great American, whose portrait sits in the 20th Century portion of the gallery |
Lunch
We lunched at Nando's Peri Peri, a fast food restaurant striving to be something more (and mostly succeeding). On entering the establishment, you are greeted by a hostess, seated at a table, and given a menu. When you are ready to order, you go to the lunch counter, place your order, and pay for your food. Five minutes later, a waitress brings you your order on real plates with real silverware.
The restaurant specializes in African-Portuguese grilled chicken, using a spice called bird's-eye chili. The Portuguese explorers who first landed in Mozambique called the spice "peri peri." When ordering, you can choose how spicy you want your food, but there are a number of bottles of peri peri sauces that you can take back to your table to sample.
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| Favorite meal of the week |
I ordered my chicken with a mild mango-lime peri peri sauce, but I also sampled from a garlic peri peri, a lemon herb peri peri, and the extra hot peri peri. For sides, I had fries (with a dipping sauce made from mayonaise and peri peri sauce) and mashed peas (with a hint of mint and chili). Overall the food was delicious, exotic without being weird. It was definitely my favorite meal of the week (outside of the home-cooked dinners I had with the Thompsons).
Natural History Museum
After lunch, we headed down to the National Museum of Natural History. I was rather excited about this destination, since it's one of the Smithsonian's flagship museums. However, the museum was a little bit of a disappointment. I have been to a number of natural history museums over the years, so I had a pretty broad basis with which to compare. I think that Denver's Museum of Nature and Science and Utah's Thanksgiving Point Museum of Ancient Life were both superior to the Smithsonian.
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| This place is dangerous |
The other exceptional part of the Natural History Museum was the gem and mineral exhibit. My issue with the other parts of the museum was the bland presentation of the displays. This was not an issue with the gems and minerals, since there's not a whole lot you can do to spice up a display of rocks. Here, the Smithsonian's sheer quantity of specimen's could not be dragged down by the quality of the presentation.
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| The Hope Diamond |
American History Museum
At this point, I was getting a little worried. The Natural History Museum had let me down, and after my disappointment with the Museum of the American Indian the previous day, I was beginning to wonder if the Smithsonian wasn't a little overrated. Fortunately, our next stop was the National Museum of American History, and it blew me away.
We started with a walk through a small exhibit on the art of the Little Golden Books. The exhibit just focused on the first ten or so books published, and the 50's era artwork was simply lovely.
From there we moved on to the "American Stories" exhibit. This is just a big room filled with random pieces of Americana, with no over-arching theme to hold the whole thing together. But within this room we saw a sunstone from the Nauvoo Temple, an original Kermit the Frog puppet, an Apple II computer, the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz," and an iPod from 2004.
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| Two relics, both introduced to the world in 1977 |
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| True Fact: Only one of these figures is a Muppet. |
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| There's no place like home, there's no place like home. |
We then went upstairs where there were a couple of exhibits that sounded interesting. First we moved through an exhibit on the American Presidency. This exhibit covered a lot of different aspects of the presidency, like campaign posters or the challenges of raising kids in the White House. My favorite section was on how U.S. Presidents have been portrayed in film and TV over the years. This section included clips from The West Wing and Air Force One, as well as many other shows in which a U.S. president played a role.
My favorite exhibit in the museum, and of the day (possibly of the week?), was one called "The Price of Freedom." It was a chronological stroll through all of America's wars, from the French-Indian War on down to the War on Terror. I lingered for a while in the World War II section, pondering over a copy of a telegram to a new widow, or a copy of a posthumous Purple Heart commendation awarded to a sailor who died at Pearl Harbor.
Sections on the Cold War and the War on Terror wrapped up the exhibit, with pieces from the Berlin Wall and large hunks of twisted steel from the World Trade Center.
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| Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day? |
At the end of the exhibit was a small theater showing scenes and images from all these various wars. The narration was provided by letters and interviews from various soldiers who served in these wars. It was a very powerful finish to an amazing day.
Dinner
Dinner that night was at Ben's Chili Bowl, an iconic DC diner. I had heard of this place even before I had started researching this trip in earnest. The place was packed, but Ray and I eventually ordered our food. A bowl of chili for each of us, with a chili dog for me and a chili burger for Ray. The food was very tasty and the atmosphere very fun.
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| A Washington Icon |
After we got back to the hotel, I looked up Ben's Chili Bowl on Wikipedia to learn more of its history. The restaurant has been around since 1958. Back then, DC was segregated and U street was known as Black Broadway. Patrons at the restaurant would stop by and visit before and after seeing the various jazz shows, and many of the great jazz legends of the day were known to eat there before their shows, including Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and Nat King Cole. Another early patron of the restaurant was a young navy corpsman by the name of Bill Cosby. A sign in the restaurant today informs customers that Mr. Cosby is the ONLY person who eats free at Ben's Chili Bowl.
After Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, riots erupted throughout the city. Ben's Chili Bowl became a safe haven for protesters and law enforcement alike. The restaurant survived the upheaval, but in the aftermath, the area became blighted. The restaurant declined to the point where there was only a single employee on staff.
The area came slowly back to life, but the construction of the U Street Metro Station in 1991 choked off a number of small businesses. The Chili Bowl survived this upheaval as well.
Today the restaurant is visited by politicians and foreign dignitaries. Nicholas Sarkozy and his wife are said to have dined here, and Ted Koppel held his retirement party here.
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| Ray Nash also visited the restaurant in 2013, but the world took no notice |
So after experiencing this delicious slice of DC history, we returned to the hotel and made plans for the following day. We ventured out one more time that night, to sample a local ice cream parlor. Unfortunately, Larry's Ice Cream was staffed by a curt man who doled out stingy portions.
It was a good day, all in all, but I was looking forward to tomorrow, and visiting the monuments that I had only before seen on TV or in movies.
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